Grace Gavin (No. 5) 2 goals, 1 assist
Farmington scored twice in the first 5:16 of the game and looked to be on the way to an easy win over Red Wing Tuesday night, November 30, at Schmitz-Maki Arena.
But the scrappy Wingers never gave up and the game wasn't decided until Krystal Baumann's empty-netter in the final minute sealed a 6-4 Missota Conference victory.
"I thought we played pretty well," coach Jon Holmes said, "even though the puck wasn't bouncing our way. We kept coming at them even though we weren't having much luck shooting the puck."
Grace Gavin notched the first goal of the season just 2:22 after the opening
face-off and Chloe Batta added another score three minutes later to get the home team off to a flying start.
But two Red Wing power play goals in the span of 21 seconds later in the period evened the score at 2-2.
The Tigers did everything but put the puck in the net in the scoreless second period, hammering 21 shots at Winger goalie Lisa Nibbe.
"We were shooting from too far out on the ice," Holmes said. "We told the girls to utilize their speed and take the puck to the net."
The invisible protective shield came off both nets in the final period. Hannah Alexander and Baumann each scored in the first 2:15 of the final frame but the Wingers responded immediately with their third power play goal of the night to make it a one-goal game again.
Gavin then notched her second of the night to make it 5-3 only to have the Wingers turn a poor Farmington outlet pass into another easy score to pull within one with 2:01 to play. Baumann's freebie with 32 seconds left, her 13th of the season, finally put the game out of reach.
"It was good to see Grace (Gavin) get in the scoring column," Holmes said. "She played a period in the JV game and had a couple of goals there too. It was a big night for her."
Gavin also had an assist for a three-point night. Betsy Anderson, Haleigh Zwart and Rachel Peroutky each matched Baumann's and Batta's two-point-total with a pair of assists apiece. Emily Severson also had an assist for the winners who had eight different players score.
The Tigers outshot the Wingers 42-28 with goalie Jessica Erchul picking up 24 saves in winning her third game of the season.
"I think our tough schedule has helped already," Holmes said. "If we had beaten up lesser teams, a game like tonight could have gotten away from us. We still have a lot of work to do but it was a step forward."
Farmington (3-3 overall and 2-0 in the Missota Conference) resumes league play Thursday night, Dec. 2, against New Prague at Schmitz-Maki.
